OP12 A population approach to the health and future prospects of young carers in glasgow

Vulnerable young people and post‐16 educational aspirations during Covid‐19

“…Although it is difficult to be precise, between 2 and 8% of young people in economically advanced societies are estimated to be carers (Joseph et al, 2020), constituting an invisible workforce. Young carers are less likely to complete secondary school (Lloyd, 2013; Robison et al, 2017) and to aspire to university after leaving school (Redmond et al, 2022; Robison et al, 2017). Although caring may be associated with increased maturity, resilience and empathy, young carers experience social and academic difficulties at school and have poorer school outcomes than their counterparts without caring responsibilities, mostly due to feeling invisible, excluded and unacknowledged as carers by their peers (for example, Bjorgvinsdottir & Halldorsdottir, 2013); being absent from school for long periods and having reduced opportunities for learning at home in the form of parent learning support and extra‐curricular activities (Stamatopoulos, 2018); and lacking guidance regarding post‐16 choices and further/higher education (Lloyd, 2013).…”